Introduction: We live in a society today, where peoples minds are far from the things of God. Everyone wants more, more money, more things, more fame and simply more of everything.
Because of God’s blessing upon us we do have more. But, people our discontent and are un-grateful. We have such great consuming appetites that we fail to realize all the blessings that God has poured upon this great nation. Commitment and sacrifice are unheard of. We want more. Cheap more, more without a cost.
This very attitude, among other sins, will bring God’s wrath upon this nation. We have become slaves to more. Everyone is in debt. The average household has over $3000 in credit card debt. Our nation is propped up by debt. It is debt that will one day come due. The new Federal Reserve board chairman just recently stated that if we as a nation don’t bring entitlement under control soon, it will cripple our nation’s economy.
We have allowed our enemies immunity because they sell us cheap goods and energy. China, who has always been considered a threat and has supported our enemies in the Korean and Vietnam wars and is on an international list of human rights violators, is considered on of our strongest trade partners. Even after selling nuclear technology to our enemies. We have become dependent upon middle eastern oil, even with them threatening Israel. Saudi Arabia is our number one oil provider and it has been proven that they have supported terrorism. Most of the hi-jackers were from there. And yet we turn our backs because we want more. More cheap electronics, more cheap clothing, more cheap trinkets. More oil, even if we have, have to pay $70 a barrel, even if it means paying $3.00 per gallon. We may gripe and complain but we will do what ever it takes to get more.
Unfortunately, we don’t treat the things of God like that. I am convinced that Jesus is the answer and we know more of Him. There were those in the Bible that felt the same way.
I. Joshua and Caleb
In 13th Chapter of Numbers Moses sent 12 spies to do a reconnaissance on the promised land. Ten came back with negative reports. They seen the men there as having great stature. They saw them as giants and in our own sight as grasshoppers. But Joshua and Caleb probably remembered God’s promise back in Exodus 29. Verse 45,46 And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God.
Joshua and Caleb knew that all they needed was God and they could obtain His promises. Later, on we find that God commissioned Joshua to be Moses successor. And that God would use him to conquer the promise land. Caleb at 85 years old drove the Anakin ”a powerful people with fenced walls out of Hebron and was given it as an inheritance. His battle cry was give me this mountain. The ten spies who failed God never saw the promised land they died in a plague. We need more of God in our lives in order to receive His promises.
II. Gideon
Judges 6:11 The angel of the Lord approached Gideon and told him that God would use him to deliver Israel from the Mideanites. Gideon responded with “Oh Lord my family is poor and I am the least of them. And the Lord said unto him. Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the midianites as one man. We may be the least of these but God can make us conquerors. All we need is more God.
III. David
David was considered to be a man after God’s own heart. With God in His life he defeated the giant Goliath. God took him from a shepherd boy into being a king. As king he wanted to return God’s glory unto Israel. We find him in 2 Samuel chapter 6:12 bringing the ark back to Jerusalem.
IV. Asa
A. Most readers of the Bible, unless they happen to be history buffs, doze off once they finish the accounts of the famous monarchs Saul, David and Solomon.
Asa was Solomon’s great-grandson. God gave him 3 whole chapters of 2 Chronicles for a reason.
Asa was not brought up to be a spiritual person. Solomon, as everyone knows, had wandered from God near the end of his life. Rehoboam, Solomons son came next was evil. Abijah, Asa’s father, let idol worship come right into the midst of what was supposed to be a Godly society. Baal was welcomed as a help to crops. Asherah poles, oversized carvings of the male sex organ supposed to bring fertility was common. Children were actually offered as sacrifices in the fires of molech. In such a spiritual climate, who was it who got through to young Asa and convinced him to seek the Lord? We don’t know. 2 Chronicles 14:2-4 tells us only that early in his reign Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to obey His laws and commands.
In essence, Asa was saying “Time out, we need God! We have a mess on our hands. A demolition needs to take place. We cannot make headway in seeking God without tearing down the accumulated junk in our souls. W have to start seeing the sinful debris we hadn’t noticed before, which is what holds back the blessings of God.
Anytime people get hungry to truly know the lord, the Holy Spirit quickly puts a shovel and broom into their hands. Husbands and wives begin to deal with long-buried issues hurting their marriages. Adults take a closer look at their choice of TV programs and Movies. Church members begin to see the damage wreaked by their gossip, their racial attitudes, their criticism.
I admit this sounds old-fashioned. I am out of step with the modern habit of claiming Gods blessing regardless of how we live.
The Bible shows us that Sin grieves the Holy Spirit and quenches His power among us. Without His blessing we miss out on what God has for us and wants us to be.
B. Later Asa was confronted with a huge Cushite army for no apparent reason. Asa’s godliness did not insure a smooth road for the rest of his life. But he understood that all he needed was more God to get him through. 2 Chronicles 14:11 says that Asa called to the Lord his God and said Lord there is no one Like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O lord, you are our God; do not let man prevail against us.
They cried for the Lord to arise and He did. The Cushites were decisively wiped out, despite their overwhelming numbers, for the terror of the Lord had fallen upon them. Hebrews 11:6 Anyone who comes to the God must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
I can go on and on through the Bible who depended upon God and need more of Him. 2 Chronicles 7:14
